UFC 100: Making History
7/11/09
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, Nevada
This event has been hyped up as the biggest UFC event of all time. On top we have 2 Main Event quality fights in Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir and GSP vs. Thiago Alves. We also have Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping in a match-up of the two trainers during the last TUF show. This fight is a borderline Main Event and the winner could be up for a shot at Anderson Silva. In addition to those three bouts we also have the UFC debut of Yoshihiro Akiyama, Stephan Bonnar/Mark Coleman and some interesting under card fights that will hopefully make the show (Jim Miller/Mac Danzig, Jon Jones/Jake O’Brien, Jon Fitch/Paul Thiago).
Middleweight Fight- Yoshihiro Akiyama (12-1) vs. Alan Belcher (13-4)
This is Akiyama’s debut in the UFC. Belcher recently spoiled Denis Kang’s UFC debut. Belcher is a brown belt in bjj and has just recently spent a few weeks with Eddie Bravo. Akiyama is a Judo Black Belt and is riding a 13 fight unbeaten streak. Akiyama has been training with UFC fighter Yushin Okami. Belcher has a 4” height advantage but their reach is even.
R1- Both guys are throwing kicks early. Belcher is the bigger fighter but Akiyama looks to be a lot faster. Belcher nailed Akiyama with a low blow early in the fight. Belcher connected with a punch that knocked Akiyama down but Akiyama jumped right back up. Akiyama’s striking is crisp and he’s landing some good shots. Akiyama caught a Belcher kick and took him down. I’ve got Akiyama taking the first round as he hit more and better strikes. Belcher did knock Akiyama down but it looked like it was more of being caught off balance. Good fight so far. Akiyama hit a strike after the bell and Belcher looked like he was not too happy about it.
R2- Akiyama got an immediate take down of Belcher to start the round. Belcher took some Ground and Pound but nothing too significant and was able to get back to his feet with two minutes left in the round. Both guys are looking a little winded at the end of this round. Akiyama is winning this fight 20-18 after two rounds but this could be anybody’s fight because both guys look like they are going to struggle with their conditioning in the third round.
R3- Both guys stand and throw some punches in the first minute of the round with both guys landing some decent blows. Akiyama is having some trouble with his left eye, I think he got poked by Belcher early in this round. Belcher went for a leg kick and Akiyama caught him and punched him to the mat but Belcher got back to his feet quickly. Akiyama got a take down with thirty seconds left but Belcher got back to his feet again. The stand-up in this round was pretty even but Akiyama got two take down/knock downs. I’ve got Akiyama winning this fight 30-27. The first and third rounds were close with Akiyama clearly winning the second. This was a good, competitive opening fight.
Judges scores: 30-27 Akiyama, 29-28 Belcher and 29-28 Akiyama
Rogan and Goldberg said that they thought Belcher got robbed. Not on my score card.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by Decision (Split)
Middleweight Fight- Dan Henderson (24-7) vs. Michael Bisping (18-1)
This is a big fight for both of these guys as a potential title shot is on the horizon for the winner. Bisping hasn’t fought since UFC 89 where he won a close but unanimous decision against Chris Leben. Dan Henderson also won a decision in his last fight as he beat former Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin by Split Decision at UFC 93. Bisping comes out to his usual Rock & Jock song. I think somebody told me it was by the band Blur. Woo hoo!
R1- Henderson is stalking Bisping early and Bisping is moving around the cage and trying to stick and move. Hendo hit a good combo against the cage that put Bisping at a back pedal and he followed with another combo but he was able to keep his senses. Hendo clinched him against the cage and landed some knees. Hendo is up 10-9 after the first round.
R2- Hendo got Bisping up against the cage and landed a big right hand but Bisping took it and backed out to the center of the cage. Bisping isn’t doing anything to hurt Hendo but he’s doing a better job keeping him away with jabs in this round. Bisping has been on his heels this entire fight. Hendo loaded up and nailed Bisping with a big right hand and Bisping fell like a ton of bricks. This fight is over. Hendo dove in with a punch to the grounded Bisping but it wasn’t needed, Bisping was gone when he hit the mat. Great showing by Hendo.
Hendo says he feels that he has earned a re-match with Anderson Silva but that he’s up for whatever UFC has for him.
Winner: Dan Henderson by KO R2 3:20
Royce Gracie is in attendance at the show tonight.
UFC 101 is coming up August 8th and will feature BJ Penn defending against Kenny Florian and Anderson Silva taking on Forrest Griffin in a Light Heavyweight Fight.
UFC 102 will take place at the end of August and will feature Big Nog vs. Randy Couture. This card will also have Demian Maia against Nate Marquardt and Keith Jardine against Thiago Silva.
Welterweight Championship Fight: Georges St-Pierre © (18-2) vs.Thiago Alves (22-4)
GSP is at the top of a lot of people’s current P4P rankings. GSP is coming off his UFC 94 domination of BJ Penn. Previous to that GSP beat Jon Fitch by Decision in a fight that he dominated. Thiago Alves is coming off a UFC 90 Unanimous Decision win over Josh Koscheck (Koscheck stepped in for Diego Sanchez taking the fight on short notice). Before that Alves beat up Matt Hughes in a fight where Alves did not make weight. Goldberg says Alves has landed the third most leg kicks in UFC history. GSP is a Kyokushin Karate Black Belt and is considered to have among the best take down in MMA right now. GSP gets a good reaction from the crowd. Thiago is pacing in the ring like a mad man before the fight. GSP has a huge 6” reach advantage. This is the Co-Main Event.
R1- Crowd starts a big “GSP” chant as the fight starts. GSP got a quick take down in the first minute of the fight. Alves got back to his feet without any damage but GSP pulled him back down and transitioned to his back. Thiago rolled him over and then they got back to their feet. GSP is really getting better of the stand up so far in the fight. Alves came forwards with some strikes but GSP took him down. Alves got back to his feet as the round ended. GSP 10-9 after round one.
Jason Statham is at the show enjoying some frosty beverages.
R2- GSP got another take down about a minute into the round. GSP briefly got to mount but Alves was able to get out. Alves is bleeding from his nose. GSP is landing some good shots on Alves. Alves got back to his feet with thirty seconds left in the round. That was a borderline 10-8 round in favor of GSP but I’ll say 10-9 so it’s GSP up 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- They had some even stand up early in the round but GSP got a take down with around two minutes gone from the round. Alves got back to his feet with two minutes left in the round. GSP landed a good right hand and floored Alves. GSP jumped on top with some aggressive Ground and Pound but Alves was able to hand on. GSP is up 30-27 after three rounds.
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida is at ringside for the fight and he gets a good response from the crowd.
R4- GSP got a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the round. GSP passes guard and mounts. GSP tried to take GSP’s back but Alves slipped out and took GSP’s guard. Alves got some good Ground and Pound in on GSP but GSP got back to his feet with 1:45 left in the round. GSP got another take down as he timed an Alves leg kick. Alves gave up his back trying to get to his feet. This was the closest round to date but GSP took it and is up 40-36. GSP tells Greg Jackson in the corner that he pulled his groin.
R5- GSP got a take down at the one minute mark of the round but Alves battled back to his feet rather quickly. GSP got another take down at the half way point of the round. Alves got back to his feet with two minutes remaining in the fight but GSP got him down yet again. GSP takes the 5th and final round and I’ve got him winning this easily 50-45. Great showing by GSP. Alves showed good conditioning and showed some heart but just like Jon Fitch he was no match for GSP.
I’m not sure what’s next for GSP but I would like to see Alves fight Jon Fitch.
Judges score cards: 50-45, 50-44, and 50-45.
Winner and still champion: Georges St-Pierre by Decision (Unanimous)
Post-Fight GSP says he hurt his groin in the 3rd round. He is indecisive about moving up to 185 to take on Anderson Silva.
UFC Heavyweight Title Fight: Brock Lesnar © (3-1) vs. Frank Mir (12-3)
This is the re-match of the last fight where Brock was dominating but got caught by a Mir submission. Since that fight Brock has gone on to defeat Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and Frank Mir has gone on to defeat Big Nog for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship (which was created when Randy Couture was holding out). UFC tells me that Brock has outstruck his opponents 87-18 in his first 3 UFC fights. Brock has an 86% accuracy rate of ground power strikes and he has 75% take down accuracy. Frank Mir has 6 submission wins, which is the most by a UFC Heavyweight. Of Mir’s 15 career fights only 1 has gone past the second round and his fights have an average length of only 3:52. This fight has had a good traditional Pro Wrestling type build from the guys comments about each other. The UFC Countdown was well put together. Brock comes out to “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. Brock has a 20 lb and 2” reach advantage. They do not touch gloves when Herb Dean has them together at the center of the ring for pre-fight instruction.
R1- Brock got a quick take down. Brock took a while to get into position but eventually he started landing some good shots to Mir’s face. Not a very exciting round but Brock fought a smart round and got in some good punches that bloodied up Frank’s face. Brock up 10-9 after one round. Almost a 10-8 round just due to the fact that Mir got in virtually no offense.
R2- Mir went for a knee and Brock dumped in on the ground but didn’t follow. Mir landed a couple of strikes against the cage and Mir hit a jumping knee into Brock (similar to the Yves Edwards/Edson Berto knee) but Brock followed through with a take down. Brock lands some big shots to the face of Mir and Herb Dean steps in to stop the fight as Mir is down in the corner. Mir wobbles to his feet and he and Brock have some words in the middle of the cage.
Winner and still champion: Brock Lesnar by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:48
Post-Fight Brock says that Sable is going to get lucky tonight. Mir says Brock did a good job in the fight and that Mir made a mistake by getting caught against cage with such a big guy against him.
UFC Welterweight Fight- Jon Fitch (22-3) vs. Paulo Thiago (11-0)
Thiago burst on the scene in his UFC debut with an upset over Josh Koscheck. Thiago is an undefeated jiu jitsu black belt who also has amateur boxing experience. Fitch is pretty much the gatekeeper of the Welterweight division. He’s better than everybody else but not as good as GSP. Fitch is one of the least exciting fighters in UFC right now in my opinion.
R1- Fitch got a take down within a minute but Thiago grabbed a guillotine in the full guard position. Fitch finally got out of the move with two minutes left in the round. Fitch controlled the last two minutes but really didn’t do much damage. Basically an even first round.
R2- Fitch got another take down in the opening stages of the fight. Man, Fitch is a boring fighter. Thiago got up but Fitch slammed him back down and sat on him some more. Fitch took his back with about a minute left in the round. Fitch easily took this round.
R3- Fitch again gets Thiago down to the ground early and basically just rides Thiago for the rest of the round. Fitch takes this either 30-27 or 29-28 but he is clearly the winner.
Judges score cards say: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Fitch.
Winner: Jon Fitch by Decision (Unanimous)
TapouT Submission of the Night went to Tom Lawlor would choked out CB Dollaway with a guillotine in the under card.
The Turning Point of the Night was when Dan Henderson knocked out Michael Bisping. It wasn’t as much a “turning point” as it was lights out.
I enjoyed this show as it had a Great KO in the Hendo/Bisping fight, a dominant performance by the Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, a great showing by one of the best P4P fighters in the world GSP and a good opener in Akiyama/Belcher.
Showing posts with label Yoshihiro Akiyama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yoshihiro Akiyama. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Saturday, October 04, 2008
DREAM.6 9/23/08 Re-Cap
DREAM 6 9/23/08 Re-Cap
Once again Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice are the announcers. This show will focus around the Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals and Finals. We have Souza vs. Galesic and Mousasi vs. Manhoef. Plus, we have Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem.
Middleweight Reseve Fight- Andrews Nakahara (0-1) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-5)
This is just in case someone gets injured in the Middleweight Grand Prix. Joachim Hansen fought in the Lightweight Reserve Fight and ended up fighting for the title and winning it at the last show. Yoon holds a win over both Galesic and Manhoef. Nakahara's only fight was against Sakuraba. Nakahara comes out to Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Not a bad choice.
R1- Nakahara hits an early kick but then they clinch. Yoon pulled guard but then they separated with little action. They stand up and then Yoon gets a take down. Nakahura goes for a submission but he's in the ropes and Yoon escapes. Yoon has a mount on Nakahara but doesn't really seem to be doing much with it, looks like he's waiting for a submission. Nakahara eventually escapes. Nakahara got Yoon down and hit some knees at the end of the round. Not a real thrilling round, fairly close, round probably goes to Yoon due to ring control (in DREAM rounds are not judged, the fights are judged as a whole).
R2- They swing pretty wildly to start the round and Nakahara connects with some shots and takes Yoon down and then works him over via Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight. Impressive round for Nakahara.
Winner: Andrews Nakahara by TKO (strikes) R2 0:30
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Melvin Manhoef (22-4-1) vs. Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1)
This is going to be striker (Manhoef) versus submission wrestler (Mousasi). Should be interesting. Mousasi has won his last 9 fights and beat Denis Kang in the opener of this tournament. Manhoef has 21 finishes by TKO or KO out of his 22 wins. Mousasi is a slight favorite according to the odds makers.
R1- Mousasi shoots in early and Manhoef sprawls but Mousasi eventually takes him down and almost immediately has his back. Manhoef flips him over but Mousasi gets a triangle. Manhoef picks him up and slams him down and the move gets clamped in harder and it's over as Manhoef taps. Very impressive and short victory for Mousasi. Getting a quick victory in this fight really sets up Mousasi as the probable favorite for the finals later.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Triangle) R1 1:28
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (9-1) vs. Zelg Galesic (9-3)
This is very similar to the last fight as it pits a striker (Galesic) versus the submission guy (Jacare). Galesic comes out to Linkin Park. Jacare lost his debut MMA fight and has not lost since.
R1- Jacare shoots in and gets a quick take down. Jacare gets some shots and then easily passes guard. Jacare takes the mount but Galesic flips him over and Jacare grabs an arm bar and wins. Wow, great performance by Jacare. That was one of the quickest arm bars and arm bar submissions that you will see.
Jacare and Mousasi both put their opponents away quickly in the first round with submissions. Should be a good final.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (11-5-1) vs. Hideo Tokoro (22-13-1)
Tokoro has won fights on both DREAM.4 and DREAM.5. He's looking to make it three wins in three straight DREAM shows. His fight against Darren Uyenoyama was one of the better fights on that show. Kid Yamamoto is in Atsushi's corner for the fight. Yamamoto's last 6 fights have all gone to a submission (he is 4-2 in those fights).
R1- Tokoro gets a couple of good strikes in early. Yamamoto got in a big strike that knocked down Tokoro about 1 minute in and then pounced on him but Tokoro grabbed guard to protect himself. Back on their feet and Yamamoto continues to hit some jabs and lands a flying knee. Tokoro getting in a couple of kicks. Tokoro pulls guard as he went after Yamamoto's arm. Back to their feet and it's pretty even right now. Yamamoto bloodies Tokoro's nose. Tokoro pulls guard again after a missed somersault kick. Yamamoto has the advantage after the first round.
R2- Shortly after the round starts they stop the action to check Tokoro's bloody nose. Tokoro grabs an arm and gets a near submission but Yamamoto turns back into him. Tokoro really trying for the submission as this might be his only way to win. 30 seconds left in the fight and Tokoro is trying to straighten out the arm but Yamamoto is stopping him and then landing some strikes. Good effort at the end by Tokoro but it looks to me like Yamamoto is going to win by decision. Yamamoto does some post match push ups.
Winner: Atsushi Yamamoto by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. Hayato Sakurai (32-8-2)
R1- Hironaka got a take down about a minute into the fight. Not much happened and they went back to their feet. Sakurai starts to find the range in the stand up game. Sakurai lost his balance and Hironaka took his guard and then tried to pass and ended back up in the guard. Hironaka hits an illegal kick as he kicked Sakurai in the chin when he was on the mat (in DREAM you can only kick a downed opponent- or knee- if both guys are on the mat). They re-start with 1:30 left in the round. Sakurai hit a good body shot. Sakurai is finishing the round strong.
R2- Hironaka works early to take this to the mat and Sakurai tries to keep it on the feet. No one really seems to be winning this round. Kind of a boring fight so far. Sakurai lands two knees towards the end and then a big punch that floors Hironaka and then gets some Ground and Pound to finish off the fight as the bell rings. Sakurai closed very well and should win this fight.
Winner: Hayato Sakurai by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Masanori Tonooka (1-1) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (11-1)
R1- Akiyama got a take down after about 2 minutes of stand up. Akiyama ties him up and gets some good Ground and Pound. Akiyama just kind of toying with his inexperienced opponent. Akiyama takes his back but then losses it. Akiyama takes him down again and lands in side control. Akiyama moves to a mount position and goes for an arm. He gets the arm bar and this one is over.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 6:26
Lightweight Fight- Todd Moore (9-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-3)
Moore fought most recently in WEC. He has lost his last 2 fights. This should be interesting as Aoki will try to jump on Moore and ride him to a submission victory or a decision and Moore is going to have to try and knock off the gnat that is the favored Aoki. JZ and Yves Edwards are in Moore's corner. Aoki has a height and reach advantage.
R1- Aoki jumps on Moore's back about a minute in and Moor backs into the corner. Aoki clamps in the Rear Naked Choke and this one is over before it started.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (23-6-2) vs. Alistair Overeem (28-11)
Overeem has a height and weight advantage. Overeem's strenghts are his strength and his striking and that's also Cro Cops strengths. Fedor is ringside at the fight tonight. Cro Cop is coming out to Duran Duran. Fedor enters the ring with a bouquet of flowers and shakes Overeem's hand and the Cro Cop and presents flowers to the corner of each fighter.
R1- Overem throws Cro Cop down for the first take down about one minute into the fight and takes Cro Cops guard. Cro Cop is busted open above the eye as Alistair is getting in some shots but nothing too damaging. The ref stops the fight a little under 3 minutes into the fight to check the cut. They re-start in the same position with Overeem in Cro Cops guard. Overeem gets pushed away and they stand back up. Cro Cop hits a kick and follows with a high kick but Overeem catches it and dumps Cro Cop onto the mat and takes his guard and starts to deliver some Ground and Pound. Overeem started to hit some better shots and he really lays into Cro Cop on a shot of two. The ref stops the fight at 5:30 to again check the cut above Cro Cops eye. They are back on their feet and Overeem hits some knees. Overeem hits a low blow. Cro Cop takes more than enough time to recover and now he will try to get back into this fight. Overeem clinches and goes back to the knees and Overeem hits him low again. Overeem gets a yellow card. Cro Cop is bleeding pretty good. Cro Cop is laying down like he's been shot. I think he knows he's overmatched and he's going to take this way out so that he gets a no decision. Overeem hasn't even broken a sweat yet. Ten minutes later and Cro Cop is still down. Cro Cop can't continue due to the shots to the family jewels but he was getting owned in this fight. Alistair won this fight easily in my mind. Once the fight was over Cro Cop got to his feet and left pretty quickly although still limping a bit but nothing like he looked like he was dying in the ring for the last 15 minutes.
Decision: No Contest
Alistair takes the microphone. He apologizes for the fight ending the way that it did. Says he's the number 1 heavyweight in DREAM.
Middleweight Grand Prix Finals Championship Fight- Gegard Mousasi (23-2-1) vs. Ronaldo Souza (10-1)
R1- Jacare gets a slam about a minute in. Mousasi tried to grab the ropes to hold on but the ref warned him. Jacare postures up and comes down with a punch but instead eats a kick and he is out! Mousasi with the up kick for the championship. Wow.
Winner and new Middleweight Champion: Gegard Mousasi by KO R1 2:15
Once again Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice are the announcers. This show will focus around the Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals and Finals. We have Souza vs. Galesic and Mousasi vs. Manhoef. Plus, we have Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem.
Middleweight Reseve Fight- Andrews Nakahara (0-1) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-5)
This is just in case someone gets injured in the Middleweight Grand Prix. Joachim Hansen fought in the Lightweight Reserve Fight and ended up fighting for the title and winning it at the last show. Yoon holds a win over both Galesic and Manhoef. Nakahara's only fight was against Sakuraba. Nakahara comes out to Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Not a bad choice.
R1- Nakahara hits an early kick but then they clinch. Yoon pulled guard but then they separated with little action. They stand up and then Yoon gets a take down. Nakahura goes for a submission but he's in the ropes and Yoon escapes. Yoon has a mount on Nakahara but doesn't really seem to be doing much with it, looks like he's waiting for a submission. Nakahara eventually escapes. Nakahara got Yoon down and hit some knees at the end of the round. Not a real thrilling round, fairly close, round probably goes to Yoon due to ring control (in DREAM rounds are not judged, the fights are judged as a whole).
R2- They swing pretty wildly to start the round and Nakahara connects with some shots and takes Yoon down and then works him over via Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight. Impressive round for Nakahara.
Winner: Andrews Nakahara by TKO (strikes) R2 0:30
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Melvin Manhoef (22-4-1) vs. Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1)
This is going to be striker (Manhoef) versus submission wrestler (Mousasi). Should be interesting. Mousasi has won his last 9 fights and beat Denis Kang in the opener of this tournament. Manhoef has 21 finishes by TKO or KO out of his 22 wins. Mousasi is a slight favorite according to the odds makers.
R1- Mousasi shoots in early and Manhoef sprawls but Mousasi eventually takes him down and almost immediately has his back. Manhoef flips him over but Mousasi gets a triangle. Manhoef picks him up and slams him down and the move gets clamped in harder and it's over as Manhoef taps. Very impressive and short victory for Mousasi. Getting a quick victory in this fight really sets up Mousasi as the probable favorite for the finals later.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Triangle) R1 1:28
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (9-1) vs. Zelg Galesic (9-3)
This is very similar to the last fight as it pits a striker (Galesic) versus the submission guy (Jacare). Galesic comes out to Linkin Park. Jacare lost his debut MMA fight and has not lost since.
R1- Jacare shoots in and gets a quick take down. Jacare gets some shots and then easily passes guard. Jacare takes the mount but Galesic flips him over and Jacare grabs an arm bar and wins. Wow, great performance by Jacare. That was one of the quickest arm bars and arm bar submissions that you will see.
Jacare and Mousasi both put their opponents away quickly in the first round with submissions. Should be a good final.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (11-5-1) vs. Hideo Tokoro (22-13-1)
Tokoro has won fights on both DREAM.4 and DREAM.5. He's looking to make it three wins in three straight DREAM shows. His fight against Darren Uyenoyama was one of the better fights on that show. Kid Yamamoto is in Atsushi's corner for the fight. Yamamoto's last 6 fights have all gone to a submission (he is 4-2 in those fights).
R1- Tokoro gets a couple of good strikes in early. Yamamoto got in a big strike that knocked down Tokoro about 1 minute in and then pounced on him but Tokoro grabbed guard to protect himself. Back on their feet and Yamamoto continues to hit some jabs and lands a flying knee. Tokoro getting in a couple of kicks. Tokoro pulls guard as he went after Yamamoto's arm. Back to their feet and it's pretty even right now. Yamamoto bloodies Tokoro's nose. Tokoro pulls guard again after a missed somersault kick. Yamamoto has the advantage after the first round.
R2- Shortly after the round starts they stop the action to check Tokoro's bloody nose. Tokoro grabs an arm and gets a near submission but Yamamoto turns back into him. Tokoro really trying for the submission as this might be his only way to win. 30 seconds left in the fight and Tokoro is trying to straighten out the arm but Yamamoto is stopping him and then landing some strikes. Good effort at the end by Tokoro but it looks to me like Yamamoto is going to win by decision. Yamamoto does some post match push ups.
Winner: Atsushi Yamamoto by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. Hayato Sakurai (32-8-2)
R1- Hironaka got a take down about a minute into the fight. Not much happened and they went back to their feet. Sakurai starts to find the range in the stand up game. Sakurai lost his balance and Hironaka took his guard and then tried to pass and ended back up in the guard. Hironaka hits an illegal kick as he kicked Sakurai in the chin when he was on the mat (in DREAM you can only kick a downed opponent- or knee- if both guys are on the mat). They re-start with 1:30 left in the round. Sakurai hit a good body shot. Sakurai is finishing the round strong.
R2- Hironaka works early to take this to the mat and Sakurai tries to keep it on the feet. No one really seems to be winning this round. Kind of a boring fight so far. Sakurai lands two knees towards the end and then a big punch that floors Hironaka and then gets some Ground and Pound to finish off the fight as the bell rings. Sakurai closed very well and should win this fight.
Winner: Hayato Sakurai by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Masanori Tonooka (1-1) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (11-1)
R1- Akiyama got a take down after about 2 minutes of stand up. Akiyama ties him up and gets some good Ground and Pound. Akiyama just kind of toying with his inexperienced opponent. Akiyama takes his back but then losses it. Akiyama takes him down again and lands in side control. Akiyama moves to a mount position and goes for an arm. He gets the arm bar and this one is over.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 6:26
Lightweight Fight- Todd Moore (9-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-3)
Moore fought most recently in WEC. He has lost his last 2 fights. This should be interesting as Aoki will try to jump on Moore and ride him to a submission victory or a decision and Moore is going to have to try and knock off the gnat that is the favored Aoki. JZ and Yves Edwards are in Moore's corner. Aoki has a height and reach advantage.
R1- Aoki jumps on Moore's back about a minute in and Moor backs into the corner. Aoki clamps in the Rear Naked Choke and this one is over before it started.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (23-6-2) vs. Alistair Overeem (28-11)
Overeem has a height and weight advantage. Overeem's strenghts are his strength and his striking and that's also Cro Cops strengths. Fedor is ringside at the fight tonight. Cro Cop is coming out to Duran Duran. Fedor enters the ring with a bouquet of flowers and shakes Overeem's hand and the Cro Cop and presents flowers to the corner of each fighter.
R1- Overem throws Cro Cop down for the first take down about one minute into the fight and takes Cro Cops guard. Cro Cop is busted open above the eye as Alistair is getting in some shots but nothing too damaging. The ref stops the fight a little under 3 minutes into the fight to check the cut. They re-start in the same position with Overeem in Cro Cops guard. Overeem gets pushed away and they stand back up. Cro Cop hits a kick and follows with a high kick but Overeem catches it and dumps Cro Cop onto the mat and takes his guard and starts to deliver some Ground and Pound. Overeem started to hit some better shots and he really lays into Cro Cop on a shot of two. The ref stops the fight at 5:30 to again check the cut above Cro Cops eye. They are back on their feet and Overeem hits some knees. Overeem hits a low blow. Cro Cop takes more than enough time to recover and now he will try to get back into this fight. Overeem clinches and goes back to the knees and Overeem hits him low again. Overeem gets a yellow card. Cro Cop is bleeding pretty good. Cro Cop is laying down like he's been shot. I think he knows he's overmatched and he's going to take this way out so that he gets a no decision. Overeem hasn't even broken a sweat yet. Ten minutes later and Cro Cop is still down. Cro Cop can't continue due to the shots to the family jewels but he was getting owned in this fight. Alistair won this fight easily in my mind. Once the fight was over Cro Cop got to his feet and left pretty quickly although still limping a bit but nothing like he looked like he was dying in the ring for the last 15 minutes.
Decision: No Contest
Alistair takes the microphone. He apologizes for the fight ending the way that it did. Says he's the number 1 heavyweight in DREAM.
Middleweight Grand Prix Finals Championship Fight- Gegard Mousasi (23-2-1) vs. Ronaldo Souza (10-1)
R1- Jacare gets a slam about a minute in. Mousasi tried to grab the ropes to hold on but the ref warned him. Jacare postures up and comes down with a punch but instead eats a kick and he is out! Mousasi with the up kick for the championship. Wow.
Winner and new Middleweight Champion: Gegard Mousasi by KO R1 2:15
Thursday, July 24, 2008
DREAM.5 7/21/08 Show Re-Cap
DREAM 5 Lightweight Gran Prix Tournament
Kenny Rice(man he looks jet lagged) and Bas Rutten are once again the announcers for this show. I like Bas more the more I listen to him. I think he's an acquired taste.
Lightweight Semifinals and Finals are fighting tonight to decide the championship. We've got Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno with the winners facing off later tonight. They hype these fighters as "4 of the Top 11 fighters in the world." I'm guessing Kenny is just talking about lightweight fighters. This should be a fun little tournament as I like all of these guys except Shinya Aoki (so he will probably win).
Lightweight Fight- Daisuke Nakamura (14-9) vs. Andy Ologun (1-0)
Apparently Nakamura just fought 4 days ago at a different show and won by decision. So he either owes someone money or just loves to fight. This match is scheduled for 2 five minute rounds. All other DREAM fights have been 1 ten minute round and 1 five minute round. Ologun has a background in K-1.
R1- Olagun gets a good kick and it takes Nakamura down but Nakamura grabs a leg and then they get back up. Olagun swings wildly and misses 2 big shots. Nakamura pulls guard and gets an arm bar finishes the fight quickly. Really quick fight and a great move by Nakamura. Very exciting opener with a great finish by Nakamura. Nakamura has now won 2 fights in 4 days and 7 of his last 8 fights.
Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Lightweight Tournament Semi-Final Fight- Shinya Aoki (16-2) vs. Caol Uno (25-10-4)
Aoki is hyped as #3 in the world. Uno is hyped as the sentimental favorite. They say that Aoki is a 3 to 1 favorite. Uno is 8 years older than Aoki and Aoki has a 4" height advantage.My prediction is that Aoki lays on top of Uno for 15 minutes and wins a decision but I'm hoping for an Uno win. Uno comes out to a re-mix of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." This match has a good feel to it, looks like it will be fun. They get a pretty even response from the crowd at introductions. Aoki is once again wearing some hideous looking tights.
R1- Long feeling out process at the beginning as they are both waiting for the other to make a move. I wish DREAM showed the time clock but it was at least a minute before the first shot was landed- Aoki hit a jumping knee on Uno up against the ropes. Aoki takes Uno down to the mat. Uno flips him over and is now in Aoki's guard. The crowd chants for Aoki. Uno hits a punch and the ref moves them to the center of the ring. Uno gets in a shot and Aoki tries to get an arm bar and is now wrapping his legs around Uno's looking for a submission. Aoki has a very active guard. Aoki has him in a heel hook. Uno gets out of it but Aoki takes his back. Aoki is like an octopus in this fight so far. Aoki has him in a body lock but is not doing any damage. Uno turns into Aoki and they take a small break to work on Aoki's gloves. Aoki moves back over and takes Uno's back and goes for a Rear Nake Choke. Aoki doesn't get it but he still has his legs wrapped around Uno's midsection. Uno flips over and Aoki catches him in a triangle but I don't think he's got his arm trapped, it looks like basically a head scissors type move. He does actually have his arm trapped and Uno is trying to hold on. Uno gets to his feet with the move still on and Uno buts his knee on Aoki's face to get out but Aoki holds on and rolls him back over. Aoki grabs his arm and rolls him over and Uno is bucking and trying to kick Aoki's back to get out of the move. Uno somehow escapes the move. Great survival by Uno and he is now in Aoki's guard. Uno postures up and is getting some punches in on Aoki. Aoki gets an up kick. The first round end with Uno landing a punch. Fantastic first round. Great mat work by Aoki and great survival instincts by Uno. The chess match these guys had was just great. Aoki is winning the fight so far as he had Uno in several submissions and it felt like he could have gotten a submission on a few of them.
R2- Uno charges in early and Aoki takes Uno's guard. Uno gives up his back trying to get out of Aoki's clutches. Uno delivering some elbows to the side of Aoki trying to get free. Aoki is just kind of holding onto him at this point. Uno turns over and is now in Aoki's guard. Uno needs a knockout here with about 1 minute left. Aoki grabs him and latches on to try and ride Uno to victory. Second round was nowhere near as exciting as the first round as Aoki knew he was ahead in the fight and simply latched on and rode Uno for the last 5 minutes. Still a top notch fight but I'm a little disappointed with Aoki not really trying to finish the fight. Probably still (mostly based on the 1st round) the second best fight DREAM has had so far (Hansen vs. Alvarez is my #1 for this promotion this year).
Winner and advancing to the Finals: Shinya Aoki by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Semi-Final Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-4-2) vs. Eddie Alvarez (14-1)
Eddie Alvarez comes out to a song with the "The Champ is Here" line repeating at the beginning. Alvarez does the Pro Wres jump into the ring over the ropes.
R1- Kawajiri landing some kicks early. Alvarez goes in and Kawajiri jumps on top guarding against a take down. They clinch against the ropes and the ref breaks them up. Alvarez misses a punch and Kawajiri gets a good right. Alvarez hits a good combo as he leads with a kick and then hits some quick punches. Alvarez's right eye is really red. Alvarez with some leg kicks. Alvarez with a big combo and Kawajiri is knocked down. They get back up and they are brawling with lots of dirty boxing. Kawajiri lands a nice punch but then slips and they are clinched again. The round is about half way over. Alvarez has a cut on his right eye and the ref stops the fight to look at it.
Kawajiri gets a big punch and knock Alvarez down. Kawajiri is on top and is trying to end the fight and Alvarez has closed his guard. Kawajiri is trying to pass guard but not having much success. Kawajiri passes into the full mount position but Alvarez is still holding his head down. Alvarez muscles to his feet and these guys are swinging wildly with both guys connecting on some shots. Both guys are just laying into each other. Very exciting fight. Kawajiri hitting some knees in the clinch. Alvarez landing some punches and knocks down Kawajiri. Alvarez thinks the fight is over and doesn't pounce on Kawajiri. Alvarez then jumps down and starts to pound on Kawajiri and the ref stops the fight. Alvarez almost makes a huge mistake but ends up winning. Alvarez has a nasty mouse under his eye.
AWESOME fight.
"It's like a Rocky movie"- Bas Rutten
DREAM has just delivered maybe the best 2 consecutive matches this year. It's right up there with Torres/Maeda and then Pulver/Faber from the last WEC show.
Lightweight "Reserve" Fight- Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill (9-7) vs. Joachim "Hell Boy" Hansen (17-7-1)
Gill lost to Kawajiri in the Lightweight Grand Prix and Hansen lost to Alvarez. The winner of this fight would step into the finals if Alvarez or Aoki could not fight. It's a possibility that Alvarez may not be able to with that big mouse under his eye but Kenny Rice doesn't seem to think that it will come to that as he doesn't even mention it as a possibility.
R1- Hansen immediately moves into Gill and Gill clinches him and hits some good knees but Hansen muscles him down and they sprawl. They ref separates them and they re-start. Gill hitting some leg kicks. Gill tries for a take down but Hansen shows good balance and strength staying on his feet but then eventually goes down. Hansen looks like he is going for an arm bar and he gets it and taps Gill. Shorter fight then it felt like it was going to be but a good fight and exciting while it lasted.
Very strong show so far for DREAM.
Winner: Joachim Hansen by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
They show Urijah Faber on the big screen to hype up a fighter that he is training that is fighting next, Joseph Benavidez.
Joseph Benavidez (7-0) vs. Junya “Kodo” Kudo
Faber is in Joseph's corner.
R1- Joe gets a quick take down and takes Kudo's guard. Back to their feet. Joe hits a big slam and is in position to take Kudo's back. Joe takes full mount and Kudo taps to the guillotine. Impressive showing for the Faber trainee Joseph Benavidez.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-5) vs. Motoki Miyazawa (4-0)
R1- Two minutes in, not much action so far. Motoki pulls guard on Hironka. Hironaka gets in a better position and gets some shots in on Motoki. They stand back up and Hironaka looks to be the better fighter on the feet. Motoki has a cut on his left eye and Motoki's nose is bleeding. Hironaka starts to open up on Motoki and the ref stops the fight to look at Motoki's cut just as Hironaka started to get going. The ref stops the fight.
Winner: Kuniyoshi Hironaka by TKO (Cut) R1
Urijah Faber joins Kenny Rice doing an intermission for an interview and they talk about Joseph Benavidez, Aoki/Alvarez, the Alistair Overeem fight coming up and Faber's upcoming fight with Mike Brown.
141 lb Fight- Hideo Tokoro (21-13-1) vs. Takeshi Yamazaki (14-7-2)
R1- Tokoro hits an early low blow on Yamazaki and they take a break. Yamazaki gets the first take down and Tokoro has a very active guard and goes for some submissions. Tokoro gets a big punch after they stand up and jumps on top and pounds on Yamazaki but Yamazaki recovers. Tokoro hits another low blow and they take another break. Gotta love the slow motion instant replay of the low blows. Ouch. They gave a yellow card to Tokoro. Tokoro hurt Yamazaki with two big punches and then got a nice knee in before they clinched and Yamazaki took Tokoro down. Tokoro tried to grab a knee bar but could not. Tokoro then tried to take Yamazaki's back but couldn't. Tokoro trying to get a triangle on Yamazaki but couldn't get it locked it. Decent fight so far but not quite what they were looking for coming out of intermission. Tokoro is winning the fight so far but did get the yellow card for the low blows.
R2- Not a real exciting second round and they kind of limp to a finish. Yamazaki's face looks really beat up after the fight.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision (Unanimous)
THEY ANNOUNCE THAT EDDIE ALVAREZ CANNOT FIGHT TONIGHT IN THE FINALS DUE TO THE CUT UNDER HIS EYE AND HE WILL BE REPLACED BY JOACHIM HANSEN.
Middleweight Fight- Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-4)
Shibata runs down to the ring and jumps over the ring ropes. This one should be all Akiyama.
R1- Akiyama is apparently going to fight in his full Gi outfit. Long feeling out process. Early leg kicks by Shibata. Not much action as we are three minutes in and all we've got so far are leg kicks by both guys. Shibata seems to be the aggressor and Akiyama seems content to just wait for Shibata to make a mistake. Akiyama missed a gigantic kick that would have taken Shibata's head off and they clinch but Akiyama ends up with the take down. Akiyama moves into full mount and has a weird choke on Shibata and gets the win in about six and a half minutes.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by TKO (ref stoppage due to choke) R1
Eddie Alvarez is in the ring and his eye is jacked up. They announce that he will not be fighting in the finals tonight against Shinya Aoki. Alvarez breaks up during his in ring promo and his smoking hot girlfriend is sad at ringside. Alvarez says that he's glad that Hansen is his replacement. Alvarez says that he is officially challenging the winner of the fight and that he will be back to fight for the fans here again and that he loves the fans. They show the replay of Kawajiri going for a punch and ending up nailing Alvarez in his eye with an elbow, which caused the huge bruise on Eddie's eye. Alvarez does a back flip off the ropes into the ring to the pop of the crowd before he leaves. Alvarez is a beast, can't wait to see him take on the winner of Aoki/Hansen.
Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
Overeem stepped in at the last moment (about 3 days notice) to take this fight. Hunt has not fought since 2006 (against Fedor). Hunt has victories over Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva in his career.
R1- Hunt gets a quick take down. Hunt passes Overeem's guard but Overeem tries to get an arm bar in and he has it and Hunt taps out in about 1:15. Great showing by Alistair on 3 days notice as he got taken down but adjusted and finished the fight quickly.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Eddie Alvarez joins the announce crew for the finals of the Lightweight GP.
Lightweight GP Title Final: Joachim "Hell Boy" Hansen (18-7-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-2)
I'm not a huge fan of a guy who lost already in the tournament stepping in and getting a fight for the title but I think Hansen is deserving as he put up a hell of a fight against Eddie Alvarez in the Quarterfinals. Either way Alvarez will get his re-match with the champ in a show or two. Alvarez is at ringside with his busted eye and his hot girlfriend. Aoki has some different but equally hideous tights on for this fight- they compare him to a bumble-bee.
R1- Hansen swings and misses immediately and Aoki takes him down. Hansen gets a low blow on Aoki and Aoki sells it like death (can't tell with this guy the way he sold that one shot from JZ when he was losing the fight if it was something that really hurt or not). Hansen again throws a big punch and misses and Aoki pulls guard. Aoki gets Hansen in the rubber guard. Aoki goes for a submission but misses and Hansen lands some good punches to Aoki. Hansen lands another big punch on Aoki and then hits Aoki with some big punches and the ref stops the fight. Great finish by Hansen. Eddie Alvarez comes in the ring post-fight and congratulates the new champion. Good but surprisingly short fight. Aoki cries after the fight.
Post-fight Hansen says that his first defense will be against Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez comes in the ring and congratulates Hansen again.Caol Uno and Kawajiri also come out and they present the fights with trophies and checks.
Winner: Joachim Hansen by TKO (strikes) R1
In a weekend that was hyped as UFC vs Affliction, DREAM put on the best show and the best fight of the weekend. Alvarez/Kawajiri was just an awesome fight and is definitely the best fight in DREAM so far and a legit FOTY candidate. Aoki/Uno was also very good. Good showings on the fight from Nakamura, Overeem, and Benavidez in under card action. Aoki/Hansen was a solid final and I'm definitely looking forward to Alvarez/Hansen II. This was definitely the best DREAM show so far (even though the first half was better than the second half of the show) and it was the best event this past weekend beating out both Affliction and UFC.
Kenny Rice(man he looks jet lagged) and Bas Rutten are once again the announcers for this show. I like Bas more the more I listen to him. I think he's an acquired taste.
Lightweight Semifinals and Finals are fighting tonight to decide the championship. We've got Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno with the winners facing off later tonight. They hype these fighters as "4 of the Top 11 fighters in the world." I'm guessing Kenny is just talking about lightweight fighters. This should be a fun little tournament as I like all of these guys except Shinya Aoki (so he will probably win).
Lightweight Fight- Daisuke Nakamura (14-9) vs. Andy Ologun (1-0)
Apparently Nakamura just fought 4 days ago at a different show and won by decision. So he either owes someone money or just loves to fight. This match is scheduled for 2 five minute rounds. All other DREAM fights have been 1 ten minute round and 1 five minute round. Ologun has a background in K-1.
R1- Olagun gets a good kick and it takes Nakamura down but Nakamura grabs a leg and then they get back up. Olagun swings wildly and misses 2 big shots. Nakamura pulls guard and gets an arm bar finishes the fight quickly. Really quick fight and a great move by Nakamura. Very exciting opener with a great finish by Nakamura. Nakamura has now won 2 fights in 4 days and 7 of his last 8 fights.
Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Lightweight Tournament Semi-Final Fight- Shinya Aoki (16-2) vs. Caol Uno (25-10-4)
Aoki is hyped as #3 in the world. Uno is hyped as the sentimental favorite. They say that Aoki is a 3 to 1 favorite. Uno is 8 years older than Aoki and Aoki has a 4" height advantage.My prediction is that Aoki lays on top of Uno for 15 minutes and wins a decision but I'm hoping for an Uno win. Uno comes out to a re-mix of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." This match has a good feel to it, looks like it will be fun. They get a pretty even response from the crowd at introductions. Aoki is once again wearing some hideous looking tights.
R1- Long feeling out process at the beginning as they are both waiting for the other to make a move. I wish DREAM showed the time clock but it was at least a minute before the first shot was landed- Aoki hit a jumping knee on Uno up against the ropes. Aoki takes Uno down to the mat. Uno flips him over and is now in Aoki's guard. The crowd chants for Aoki. Uno hits a punch and the ref moves them to the center of the ring. Uno gets in a shot and Aoki tries to get an arm bar and is now wrapping his legs around Uno's looking for a submission. Aoki has a very active guard. Aoki has him in a heel hook. Uno gets out of it but Aoki takes his back. Aoki is like an octopus in this fight so far. Aoki has him in a body lock but is not doing any damage. Uno turns into Aoki and they take a small break to work on Aoki's gloves. Aoki moves back over and takes Uno's back and goes for a Rear Nake Choke. Aoki doesn't get it but he still has his legs wrapped around Uno's midsection. Uno flips over and Aoki catches him in a triangle but I don't think he's got his arm trapped, it looks like basically a head scissors type move. He does actually have his arm trapped and Uno is trying to hold on. Uno gets to his feet with the move still on and Uno buts his knee on Aoki's face to get out but Aoki holds on and rolls him back over. Aoki grabs his arm and rolls him over and Uno is bucking and trying to kick Aoki's back to get out of the move. Uno somehow escapes the move. Great survival by Uno and he is now in Aoki's guard. Uno postures up and is getting some punches in on Aoki. Aoki gets an up kick. The first round end with Uno landing a punch. Fantastic first round. Great mat work by Aoki and great survival instincts by Uno. The chess match these guys had was just great. Aoki is winning the fight so far as he had Uno in several submissions and it felt like he could have gotten a submission on a few of them.
R2- Uno charges in early and Aoki takes Uno's guard. Uno gives up his back trying to get out of Aoki's clutches. Uno delivering some elbows to the side of Aoki trying to get free. Aoki is just kind of holding onto him at this point. Uno turns over and is now in Aoki's guard. Uno needs a knockout here with about 1 minute left. Aoki grabs him and latches on to try and ride Uno to victory. Second round was nowhere near as exciting as the first round as Aoki knew he was ahead in the fight and simply latched on and rode Uno for the last 5 minutes. Still a top notch fight but I'm a little disappointed with Aoki not really trying to finish the fight. Probably still (mostly based on the 1st round) the second best fight DREAM has had so far (Hansen vs. Alvarez is my #1 for this promotion this year).
Winner and advancing to the Finals: Shinya Aoki by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Semi-Final Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-4-2) vs. Eddie Alvarez (14-1)
Eddie Alvarez comes out to a song with the "The Champ is Here" line repeating at the beginning. Alvarez does the Pro Wres jump into the ring over the ropes.
R1- Kawajiri landing some kicks early. Alvarez goes in and Kawajiri jumps on top guarding against a take down. They clinch against the ropes and the ref breaks them up. Alvarez misses a punch and Kawajiri gets a good right. Alvarez hits a good combo as he leads with a kick and then hits some quick punches. Alvarez's right eye is really red. Alvarez with some leg kicks. Alvarez with a big combo and Kawajiri is knocked down. They get back up and they are brawling with lots of dirty boxing. Kawajiri lands a nice punch but then slips and they are clinched again. The round is about half way over. Alvarez has a cut on his right eye and the ref stops the fight to look at it.
Kawajiri gets a big punch and knock Alvarez down. Kawajiri is on top and is trying to end the fight and Alvarez has closed his guard. Kawajiri is trying to pass guard but not having much success. Kawajiri passes into the full mount position but Alvarez is still holding his head down. Alvarez muscles to his feet and these guys are swinging wildly with both guys connecting on some shots. Both guys are just laying into each other. Very exciting fight. Kawajiri hitting some knees in the clinch. Alvarez landing some punches and knocks down Kawajiri. Alvarez thinks the fight is over and doesn't pounce on Kawajiri. Alvarez then jumps down and starts to pound on Kawajiri and the ref stops the fight. Alvarez almost makes a huge mistake but ends up winning. Alvarez has a nasty mouse under his eye.
AWESOME fight.
"It's like a Rocky movie"- Bas Rutten
DREAM has just delivered maybe the best 2 consecutive matches this year. It's right up there with Torres/Maeda and then Pulver/Faber from the last WEC show.
Lightweight "Reserve" Fight- Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill (9-7) vs. Joachim "Hell Boy" Hansen (17-7-1)
Gill lost to Kawajiri in the Lightweight Grand Prix and Hansen lost to Alvarez. The winner of this fight would step into the finals if Alvarez or Aoki could not fight. It's a possibility that Alvarez may not be able to with that big mouse under his eye but Kenny Rice doesn't seem to think that it will come to that as he doesn't even mention it as a possibility.
R1- Hansen immediately moves into Gill and Gill clinches him and hits some good knees but Hansen muscles him down and they sprawl. They ref separates them and they re-start. Gill hitting some leg kicks. Gill tries for a take down but Hansen shows good balance and strength staying on his feet but then eventually goes down. Hansen looks like he is going for an arm bar and he gets it and taps Gill. Shorter fight then it felt like it was going to be but a good fight and exciting while it lasted.
Very strong show so far for DREAM.
Winner: Joachim Hansen by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
They show Urijah Faber on the big screen to hype up a fighter that he is training that is fighting next, Joseph Benavidez.
Joseph Benavidez (7-0) vs. Junya “Kodo” Kudo
Faber is in Joseph's corner.
R1- Joe gets a quick take down and takes Kudo's guard. Back to their feet. Joe hits a big slam and is in position to take Kudo's back. Joe takes full mount and Kudo taps to the guillotine. Impressive showing for the Faber trainee Joseph Benavidez.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-5) vs. Motoki Miyazawa (4-0)
R1- Two minutes in, not much action so far. Motoki pulls guard on Hironka. Hironaka gets in a better position and gets some shots in on Motoki. They stand back up and Hironaka looks to be the better fighter on the feet. Motoki has a cut on his left eye and Motoki's nose is bleeding. Hironaka starts to open up on Motoki and the ref stops the fight to look at Motoki's cut just as Hironaka started to get going. The ref stops the fight.
Winner: Kuniyoshi Hironaka by TKO (Cut) R1
Urijah Faber joins Kenny Rice doing an intermission for an interview and they talk about Joseph Benavidez, Aoki/Alvarez, the Alistair Overeem fight coming up and Faber's upcoming fight with Mike Brown.
141 lb Fight- Hideo Tokoro (21-13-1) vs. Takeshi Yamazaki (14-7-2)
R1- Tokoro hits an early low blow on Yamazaki and they take a break. Yamazaki gets the first take down and Tokoro has a very active guard and goes for some submissions. Tokoro gets a big punch after they stand up and jumps on top and pounds on Yamazaki but Yamazaki recovers. Tokoro hits another low blow and they take another break. Gotta love the slow motion instant replay of the low blows. Ouch. They gave a yellow card to Tokoro. Tokoro hurt Yamazaki with two big punches and then got a nice knee in before they clinched and Yamazaki took Tokoro down. Tokoro tried to grab a knee bar but could not. Tokoro then tried to take Yamazaki's back but couldn't. Tokoro trying to get a triangle on Yamazaki but couldn't get it locked it. Decent fight so far but not quite what they were looking for coming out of intermission. Tokoro is winning the fight so far but did get the yellow card for the low blows.
R2- Not a real exciting second round and they kind of limp to a finish. Yamazaki's face looks really beat up after the fight.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision (Unanimous)
THEY ANNOUNCE THAT EDDIE ALVAREZ CANNOT FIGHT TONIGHT IN THE FINALS DUE TO THE CUT UNDER HIS EYE AND HE WILL BE REPLACED BY JOACHIM HANSEN.
Middleweight Fight- Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-4)
Shibata runs down to the ring and jumps over the ring ropes. This one should be all Akiyama.
R1- Akiyama is apparently going to fight in his full Gi outfit. Long feeling out process. Early leg kicks by Shibata. Not much action as we are three minutes in and all we've got so far are leg kicks by both guys. Shibata seems to be the aggressor and Akiyama seems content to just wait for Shibata to make a mistake. Akiyama missed a gigantic kick that would have taken Shibata's head off and they clinch but Akiyama ends up with the take down. Akiyama moves into full mount and has a weird choke on Shibata and gets the win in about six and a half minutes.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by TKO (ref stoppage due to choke) R1
Eddie Alvarez is in the ring and his eye is jacked up. They announce that he will not be fighting in the finals tonight against Shinya Aoki. Alvarez breaks up during his in ring promo and his smoking hot girlfriend is sad at ringside. Alvarez says that he's glad that Hansen is his replacement. Alvarez says that he is officially challenging the winner of the fight and that he will be back to fight for the fans here again and that he loves the fans. They show the replay of Kawajiri going for a punch and ending up nailing Alvarez in his eye with an elbow, which caused the huge bruise on Eddie's eye. Alvarez does a back flip off the ropes into the ring to the pop of the crowd before he leaves. Alvarez is a beast, can't wait to see him take on the winner of Aoki/Hansen.
Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
Overeem stepped in at the last moment (about 3 days notice) to take this fight. Hunt has not fought since 2006 (against Fedor). Hunt has victories over Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva in his career.
R1- Hunt gets a quick take down. Hunt passes Overeem's guard but Overeem tries to get an arm bar in and he has it and Hunt taps out in about 1:15. Great showing by Alistair on 3 days notice as he got taken down but adjusted and finished the fight quickly.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Eddie Alvarez joins the announce crew for the finals of the Lightweight GP.
Lightweight GP Title Final: Joachim "Hell Boy" Hansen (18-7-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-2)
I'm not a huge fan of a guy who lost already in the tournament stepping in and getting a fight for the title but I think Hansen is deserving as he put up a hell of a fight against Eddie Alvarez in the Quarterfinals. Either way Alvarez will get his re-match with the champ in a show or two. Alvarez is at ringside with his busted eye and his hot girlfriend. Aoki has some different but equally hideous tights on for this fight- they compare him to a bumble-bee.
R1- Hansen swings and misses immediately and Aoki takes him down. Hansen gets a low blow on Aoki and Aoki sells it like death (can't tell with this guy the way he sold that one shot from JZ when he was losing the fight if it was something that really hurt or not). Hansen again throws a big punch and misses and Aoki pulls guard. Aoki gets Hansen in the rubber guard. Aoki goes for a submission but misses and Hansen lands some good punches to Aoki. Hansen lands another big punch on Aoki and then hits Aoki with some big punches and the ref stops the fight. Great finish by Hansen. Eddie Alvarez comes in the ring post-fight and congratulates the new champion. Good but surprisingly short fight. Aoki cries after the fight.
Post-fight Hansen says that his first defense will be against Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez comes in the ring and congratulates Hansen again.Caol Uno and Kawajiri also come out and they present the fights with trophies and checks.
Winner: Joachim Hansen by TKO (strikes) R1
In a weekend that was hyped as UFC vs Affliction, DREAM put on the best show and the best fight of the weekend. Alvarez/Kawajiri was just an awesome fight and is definitely the best fight in DREAM so far and a legit FOTY candidate. Aoki/Uno was also very good. Good showings on the fight from Nakamura, Overeem, and Benavidez in under card action. Aoki/Hansen was a solid final and I'm definitely looking forward to Alvarez/Hansen II. This was definitely the best DREAM show so far (even though the first half was better than the second half of the show) and it was the best event this past weekend beating out both Affliction and UFC.
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